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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29445021">ten fateful encounters</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimeBeat/pseuds/HimeBeat'>HimeBeat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword &amp; Shield | Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Clubbing, First Meetings, If I remember correctly, M/M, One Night Stands, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, this is the fic that sprung this whole idea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:00:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,057</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29445021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimeBeat/pseuds/HimeBeat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Verse four — Soulmate marks are only visible after meeting and/or touching.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy valentine's day, loveys!! </p><p>i've been waiting for MONTHS to share this series with you and i am: so. freaking. excited !! </p><p>i love soulmate au's and i've been on the mission to write some wholesome satogou soulmates content for a minute. what better day to share than the 14th of February? a day to celebrate love!</p><p>So, from my heart to yours, a lil' valentine's, soulmate loving:</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>&lt;&lt; The first words your soulmate says to you are written in your wrist - except the words in your wrist are something super common like ‘yes’, or ‘hi’&gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p>Goh hates his soulmate.</p><p>Well, <em>no, </em>no, of course he doesn’t <em>hate them </em>hate them. He couldn’t, they are the one person in the universe who was perfectly crafted for him. But — <em>eh, </em>he does hate them. A little.</p><p>The thing is: of all the wonderful, romantic, awe-inspiring first liners a person can possibly have to meet their special someone, of all the fantastic and fateful ways there is to spark that first conversation, sometimes Goh has a hard time believing his chosen words are so… so fucking <em>simple.</em></p><p><em>Word. </em>If we’re being technical about it. <em>The most used word ever. </em>If we’re being <em>painfully </em>technical about it.</p><p>‘<em>Yes’ </em>reads in Goh’s inner wrist. And more than a gift from the universe, or a helpful push to find the love of his life, it often feels to Goh as if he is being mocked. As if someone, wherever it is that soulmates are assigned, got bored of doing their job <em>right, </em>and decided to give Goh this stupid word that does absolutely <em>nothing </em>as far as guiding him toward his one true person is concerned.</p><p>Goh hears <em>yes </em>at least fifty times every day. And it’s the first thing at least a hundred people have said to him in the span of his lifetime.</p><p>He knows. He’s kept count.</p><p>
  <em>“Excuse me, is this the A-3 classroom?”</em>
</p><p>“<em>Yes,” had answered a green eyed brunette on the first day of high-school, and Goh, whose soulmate mark had just appeared about a week before, felt his heart almost beat the fuck out of his ribcage and sprint down the hallway.</em></p><p>
  <em>So soon already? This girl?! Was she the one?!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey, are you coming in?” Asked the girl, seemingly unfazed, and Goh clearly remembered the hint of annoyance in her voice, the both of them standing in the hallway, the bell having rung a minute ago.</em>
</p><p>Chloe hadn’t been his soulmate, obviously. But she had laughed to the high heavens when, three years later and a solid friendship to speak for (that he justified was a good-enough a reason to forgive himself the embarrassment), he confessed how he had foolishly believed she would be.</p><p><em>You were amazing out there. </em>Read in the inside of Chloe’s wrist. Which, while still something one could hear often — specially being the captain of the cheerleading squad — significantly narrowed down the field for his friend to find her true match.</p><p>She always said ‘<em>thank you’, </em>because it was the polite thing to say, and because it’s the way one usually replies to a compliment. Yet, none of her many admirers and followers had a scribbled ‘thank you’ on the inner side of their wrist.</p><p>Chloe always said ‘thank you’. Until the day she didn’t.</p><p>Until the day they played a match against the neighbor school’s soccer team, and she ran into a girl from the opposite team’s squad right as she left the field from the half-time show.</p><p>“You were amazing out there!” Said the girl, admired.</p><p>And Chloe, who had seen their performance at the beginning of the match, and had been quite impressed herself, replied with the first thing that had come to her mind, a just as polite but very heartfelt: “So were you!”</p><p>Something <em>clicked. </em>And, more than the realization in the other girl’s eyes, it was Chloe’s own surprise at realizing she’d said something different than ‘thank you’ to the compliment what made her understand that this was <em>it.</em></p><p>
  <em>You know how many people had said that to me before, though? It’s really all about what you say in reply, Goh.</em>
</p><p>Of course she could be smug about it now, both her and Serena parading adorably around campus. Happy and without a worry in the world, for they had found each other.</p><p>Still, Goh knew his friend had a point.</p><p>No matter how plain and simple the stupid <em>yes </em>was, it was a complement of something. That’s the whole point of soulmates, isn’t it? To have someone meet you halfway, have the both of you create something beautiful together.</p><p>His <em>yes </em>might seem inane to him. But it may just be the answer to some fantastic question he is going to make, any day now. And that fantastic question resides in the inner wrist of the person that will make every last one of his days make sense.</p><p><em>God, that’s so stupid, Goh, </em>he reprimands himself. <em>No more late night soulmate blog browsing for you.</em></p><p>But a part of him can’t help it. He really wants to meet this person and, as he gears up for his first day of university, that stupidly cheesy part of him wishes against all hope that he meets them soon.</p><p>In a class, maybe? He’s taking some advanced courses, even when he’s only a first year. Maybe his soulmate is as into science as he is, and he will ask them about some assignment, or a particularly challenging topic.</p><p>Or maybe in a coffee-shop? He’s already made plans to check out the one near campus with Chloe and Serena that afternoon.</p><p>He has an orientation class as well, on third period, that will no doubt be filled with new faces. Anyone in that room could be his soulmate, and the mere possibility makes Goh giddy with enthusiasm that, for the time being, he only qualms <em>a little.</em></p><p>The day is filled with possibilities. As are the next four years. And he has a feeling that, soon enough, his own fateful encounter will arrive.</p><p> </p><p>💘</p><p> </p><p>Ash makes sure to have an available seat to at least one of his sides every time he goes anywhere.</p><p>
  <em>Anywhere.</em>
</p><p>If he’s out eating with his friends, he always makes them sit opposite of him. If they go to the movies, he always chooses the seats that haven’t been filled yet, and have plenty of available seats to the sides, <em>which are always the worst seats, Ash, I’m not going to the cinema with you anymore.</em></p><p>He doesn’t care what Misty says. Besides, if she’s not there, it means there is one more seat available for his soulmate to take, plus he doesn’t have to listen to her complain. Everyone wins.</p><p>It’s logistics work every time he takes a train or bus — or any type of transportation, really — and he’s not above moving seats five times in a twenty minute ride simply to have an empty seat next to him.</p><p>Gladion and Gary laugh at his antics, call him obsessed, mildly annoyed by having to follow him through a semi-packed train wagon on their way to school, jumping seats as if they were playing some elaborate game.</p><p>And, <em>yeah, </em>he <em>might</em> be obsessed, but Ash takes this soulmate business very seriously.</p><p>He doesn’t want to miss any opportunity to find them.</p><p>He’s got it perfectly rehearsed in his head. Has thought of the moment every day since he was fifteen, and the fateful words finally appeared on his inner-wrist.</p><p>“<em>Is this seat taken?” </em>They will ask, and Ash imagines they voice delicate, something instantly warm and kind.</p><p>With a megawatt electric smile, Ash will turn to them, and utter the most perfect ‘No’ he ever has. And that word, far from being a rejection, will be the answer that will open the doors to the rest of his life.</p><p>Of course, Ash does’t know what words exactly exactly he is going to say, but at the very least, he is certain that he is <em>not</em> going shoo away his soulmate when they ask to sit next to him.</p><p>That is why it’s imperative that there is always an empty seat next to him.</p><p>He’s thought it a million times over, so he has various variations of his answer, <em>no, but please sit. Or, It isn’t, please.</em> Or, his personal favorite:<em> it is now. </em>Which might be a little out there, but this is his soulmate, and he doesn’t think he can be too forward when it comes to them.</p><p>Ash knows the words will come to him naturally, when the moment arrives, but he still keeps a healthy roaster of options, hoping the next time someone asks to sit next to him, he will say the short selection that has been written on his other halve’s wrist since the beginning of time.</p><p>Ah, yes, he is a hopeless romantic. He hopes his soulmate won’t care.</p><p>It’s just that he can’t <em>wait </em>to meet them. And every day of the last four years has been as sweet as it has been torturous, waiting for them, hoping they will be right around the next corner.</p><p>At restaurants. The movies. The bus. The train. In class and during field trips, <em>no one sits next to Ash, </em>mocks Gary, every time, tired but resigned to his dumb-ass of a best friend, <em>you know everyone on this bus, idiot, there is literally zero chance you’ll meet them here.</em></p><p>But Ash is stubborn, and decidedly puts his backpack next to him on the empty seat. An eye always open in case someone will need to sit there.</p><p>In case it’s <em>them.</em></p><p>Ash breaths out as he adjusts his hat over his head, looks at his reflection back in the mirror and nods to himself once. He’s ready.</p><p>It’s his first day of university today, and he intends to be early for every single one of his classes, not because he’s particularly excited about school, but —<em> well,</em> he needs to make sure to secure a couple of seats.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>💘</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Goh looks at the room around him nervously, the line at the campus cafeteria had taken <em>forever, </em>and now he was late for his orientation session. Which was, of course, <em>packed </em>with freshmen.</p><p>“Sorry, it was already full when we arrived, we couldn’t save you a seat,” apologizes Serena, Chloe sporting an equally regretful expression next to her.</p><p><em>It’s all right,</em> he says, with a face that expresses <em>it’s not all right at all. </em>But there’s nothing to be done now. He’ll just go a couple of rows up, find some stranger to sit next to.</p><p>There’s gotta be a seat in here somewhere.</p><p> </p><p>💘</p><p> </p><p>It might be that Ash’s borderline obsession for <em>at least </em>two spaces available near him is finally catching up with him. It might the nerves from his first day of university. Or it might just be that is hard to <em>fucking breathe </em>in this room, with how full it is of first year students.</p><p>It might well be all of the above.</p><p>Whatever it is, Ash feels very,<em> very uneasy</em> at the present arrangement, and he internally curses himself for not arriving a goddamned hour <em>earlier, </em>and he chastises Ritchie for not having thought of him when he chose the seats at the very end of the room.</p><p><em>They were the only ones I could find!, </em>defended his friend, agitated, <em>I was running from my other class, all the way across campus!</em></p><p>Yeah, yeah, it might nor have been Ritchie’s fault, but, <em>damn it.</em> Ash was uncomfortable, not only were there no seats available in front or beside him, but he was now trapped in between Ritchie and the <em>fucking wall.</em></p><p>Ash hates seating next to walls. It’s a waste of space that could be occupied by his soulmate.</p><p>He breathes in, trying to calm himself down. There’s a very slim chance he will actually meet his soulmate here, he knows. It’s orientation, for God’s sake, there will be someone speaking at the front of the classroom any moment now, and, with how packed the room is already, he doubts anyone is still looking for a seat, mere moments before the session begins.</p><p>But more than the improbability of running into his better half right now, is the plain discomfort of being so caged against a wall what’s making Ash uneasy.</p><p>Maybe he can ask Ritchie to tell him a funny story, he always seems to have those available in his repertoire.</p><p>“Hey, you think that — ” Uh-oh, Ritchie is standing up from his seat.</p><p><em>“</em>Ah, I really gotta go to the bathroom, I could’t before from all the running,” excuses his friend. “I’ll be back in a moment,” he promises and, before he takes another step, he looks Ash dead in the eyes, and warns, “don’t you <em>dare </em>give my seat away, Ash Ketchum.”</p><p>Ash frowns, because that’s an impossible promise and Ritchie knows it, but he nods his head anyways, with a roll of his eyes; Ritchie had been cool enough to save a seat for him. Ash owed him.</p><p>The unease doesn’t leave, but Ash takes another breath and holds it for ten seconds, the way Gladion taught him to do when he’d get too frantic about this thing or the other. It helps. The room is crowded, there’s a wall to his left, one empty — but <em>taken — </em>seat to his right, and five more incoming students on this same row. It’s crowded, but Ash can breath. It’s fine. Ritchie will be back any second, and it will all be fine.</p><p>Besides, it’s a minute to the scheduled start time, and it’s not like someone will suddenly come all the wayup to the back of the classroom and —</p><p>“Is this seat taken?”</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh, no.</em>
</p><p>Because it simply can’t be.</p><p>It can’t be that he’s spent the last four years carefully preparing for this very moment, making sure the seat next to him is never, <em>ever </em>taken. It’s not possible that today, of all days, his answer has got to be other than the perfect and inviting negative he’s held at the tip of his tongue for so long, and so fiercely.</p><p>He <em>wants </em>to say <em>no</em>. Screw Ritchie and his saved seat. He’s been waiting for this moment his entire life.</p><p><em>Fuck, </em>thinks Ash, wishing he could just be like that.</p><p>Distressed, and without daring to look up at the person who’s just uttered the words he’s waited a lifetime to hear, he chews the response he never wanted to give. “Yes,” he breathes, every bit of his disappointment showing in the simple word.</p><p><em>Well, it probably isn’t them, </em>Ash comforts himself, because it would be really rich of the universe to set him up like this the one time the answer is not what he’d expected to —</p><p>The first time the answer is <em>different.</em></p><p>As realization draws up on Ash’s face, he also finally notices that the person standing next to him hasn’t moved, even when he’s just stated that the seat was, in fact, taken.</p><p>Ash dares to look up then, and is met with alarmed yet glinting deep, <em>mesmerizing </em>blue eyes, looking back at him as if he was a two-headed monster.</p><p>But, no. It’s just his soulmate.</p><p>Ash breathes out again, not quite believing it yet. Even without seeing the words inside this other guy’s wrist. He <em>knows. </em>He knows it as clearly as he knows he was always meant to answer <em>yes, </em>now.</p><p>He knows it as clearly as he knows that he’s going to miss this orientation class. And as he knows Ritchie will be <em>pissed</em> at him for leaving their seats so carelessly.</p><p>Ash knows. He can’t believe it. But he <em>knows.</em></p><p>And he may have lost all choice when it came to his first words, but Ash is almost impressed with how easy his next selection comes out, considering it’s the first thing that pops in his head.</p><p>“Wanna get out of here?”</p><p>Beautiful-guy-with-blue-eyes nods, and Ash doesn’t think twice before grabbing his hand and pulling them both out of the classroom, away from the way and the seats and the fifty-something freshman.</p><p>Toward the rest of his life.</p><p> </p><p>💘</p><p> </p><p>Goh — his name is Goh! — tells Ash he hates him very much, about half an hour after escaping orientation, when they’re seating on a meadow across the university’s campus.</p><p><em>Stupid yes forged in my stupid wrist, </em>Goh says, his voice perfect and angry and nothing like Ash had pictured. <em>You couldn’t have thought of something more elaborate, huh? Dummy.</em></p><p>Ash wants to correct him, tell Goh that he’d thought of a million things, and that ‘<em>yes’ </em>was never even a choice. But the complaints are breathed into Ash’s mouth as their lips press together, and Goh eventually forgets them and in turn begins to<em> laugh</em> with mirth and relief at knowing that finally, <em>finally, </em>they have found each other.</p><p>It’s funny, thinks Ash, if a bit ironic, because starting today — and for the rest of his life — the answer to <em>is this seat taken? </em>Will always be a plain but infinitely meaningful: <em>yes.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>happy Satoshi day! here’s a Satoshi-centric piece for you 💞 I adore this little bean. i’ve known him since i was four, and nearly twenty years later, his character has become (and remains) impossibly dear to my heart. I’m happy I get to share this lil story today x</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>&lt;&lt;Ink marks (similar to tattoos) are on your body. When your soulmate is in the vicinity it’ll begin to glow, brightening as you come closer together.&gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The club thing really isn’t Ash’s scene. Sure, he’s had his fair share of out and about times over the last few years. There have been drunken nights he regrets, and some he doesn’t even remember well-enough to know if there is something he <em>should </em>regret.</p><p> </p><p>Even so, this isn’t his every Friday night.</p><p> </p><p>The music feels like it’s <em>booming</em> inside his head, and the sea of bodies around has begun to suffocate him a bit. It’s not where Ash would <em>rather be</em>, but tonight he’s got no choice, and with characteristic optimism in the face of gloom, Ash sincerely hopes tonight won’t turn into one of those he wishes hadn’t happened the next morning.</p><p> </p><p>Nothing remarkable has to happen, he just wants to make it through.</p><p> </p><p>It’s Ritchie’s birthday, and as a gift he’d asked for nothing more than going out for the night <em>and get absolutely shit-faced, you know, Ash, like they do in that t.v. show!</em></p><p> </p><p><em>That </em>t.v. show is a terrible influence, in Ash’s wiser opinion, but he stays resolutely quiet as his friend drags them all the way downtown, to one of those underground (read: <em>dangerous) </em>rave clubs, where the drinks are cheap and bad and potentially filled with more than just bottom-shelve alcohol.</p><p> </p><p>It’s exactly what Ritchie wants. He proclaims so with a smile, as he pulls a lenient Misty, a wary Ash, and a murderous Gary inside the place, and over to the flimsy and not-very-VIP-like table he had ‘booked’. Whatever that meant on a place like this.</p><p> </p><p>“The first round of drinks should be coming soon,” Ritchie informs his friends, head bopping to the beat of the obnoxious music, seemingly unaffected by the <em>scorching heat</em> that permeates this place.</p><p> </p><p>Misty tuts at Ash and Gary’s sour-expressions. “Change those faces, you two! You knew what to expect.”</p><p> </p><p>Her calmness irks Ash a bit. Under any other circumstances, Misty would have been the first one to rotundly reject the idea of <em>ever </em>visiting this club.</p><p> </p><p>Any other circumstances but Ritchie’s birthday. Because, apparently, that is the one occasion none of them can deny him anything. <em>Anything at all, it’s my day and you’re my friends and, hey, it’s the last one we’ll get to spend together in so long! You never know when you’ll see me again! We better make the best of this one!</em></p><p> </p><p><em>Bullshit,</em> thought Ash. He was only going away for a year, and they have already made plans to visit him in the Summer. That speech had just been a manipulative shtick used to drag them all into hell’s first ring tonight.</p><p> </p><p>And Misty — poor, naïve Misty — had <em>fallen </em>for it.</p><p> </p><p>Gary had come with the one and only purpose of <em>hating it. </em>He refused to make eye contact with anyone, and there was <em>absolutely now way on Earth</em> he was trying a single one of the glowing shots that had just been placed in front of them. Nuh-uh, he wanted to live, thank-you-very-much.</p><p> </p><p>But he’d joined them nonetheless, because he, too, had fallen for Ritchie’s dumb forget-me-not rant.</p><p> </p><p>“These are so cool!” Exclaims the auburn haired man, grabbing a shot from the tray, nodding his head and inviting his friends to do the same.</p><p> </p><p>Gary’s not touching it. He tells Ritchie as much, and threatens to pour them all down the drain if he keeps insisting. Ritchie stops insisting. And to Misty’s credit, she<em> at least</em> eyes the gooey drink suspiciously before taking one in hand.</p><p> </p><p>Much more pragmatic, and resigned to his fate, Ash grabs a shot and holds it up, clinking it lightly to Ritchie’s own one as he fires an enthusiastic <em>cheers! </em>before knocking it down.</p><p> </p><p>Ash does the same, Misty following along, only spluttering a little when she realizes it’s <em>spicy. How the fuck is a shot spicy?! Ritchie, what the hell did you order —</em></p><p> </p><p>It is, by far, the worst thing Ash has ever tasted. But he doesn’t get to ponder on all the reasons why this is so —and he suspects, there are <em>many —</em>, because suddenly Gary’s finger taps on his shoulder, a curious frown on his face as he points to Ash’s forearm.</p><p> </p><p>“Has that happened before?” He questions.</p><p> </p><p>Ash follows his gaze to understand what <em>that </em>is, and when he does, he feels as though all the air has been punched out of him. It was hard to breathe already, and if he could, he would’ve worried about passing out.</p><p> </p><p>His forearm is <em>glowing. </em>The birthmark nested there - usually a normal shade of blue - is now positively lightning up his entire arm. It’s not dissimilar to the tacky neon signs littering this place; except that is infinitely more important, for that is his soul-mark right there.</p><p> </p><p>Glowing.</p><p> </p><p>As it is supposed to do when his soulmate is near.</p><p> </p><p><em>That </em>has, in fact, never happened before.</p><p> </p><p>Ash is utterly unprepared for it. He does’t know what to do. Doesn’t know where to go.</p><p> </p><p>“Nowhere, you idiot. They’re <em>here. </em>Just — take a walk around or something, it’s supposed to shine brighter the closer you get.”</p><p> </p><p>Gary is, of course, absolutely right. He’s annoying, but he is right.</p><p> </p><p><em>Objectively,</em> Ash knows how this works. He’d taken the classes in high-school, and heard the stories from his elders a thousand times, much like everyone else.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The gods of light and fortune gift us these marks, Ash, so that, when the time comes, we can find our partner. It’ll be the brightest moment of your life. And you needn’t worry. You will know.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ash worries.</p><p> </p><p>He’s been around for nearly twenty-two years, and not a single time has the spiral on his arm been anything other than opaque blue. So forgive for becoming a little skeptical.</p><p> </p><p>But it’s fine, it’s whatever. It’s not like Ash has spent endless nights wondering where <em>they </em>are, what they’re doing, if they like the same music he does, the same t.v. shows. If they read the same comics or have the same age. It’s not like he thinks of their face and their voice, or questions whether they are even in the same country, or speak the same language. Are they a boy, a girl, something in between, or maybe neither?</p><p> </p><p>It’s not like Ash cares either way.</p><p> </p><p>Certainly he hasn’t cried himself to sleep a time or two in anguish over the idea of maybe never meeting them. And of course that feeling of hopelessness hasn’t been made worse by the fact that <em>everyone </em>around him seems to be finding their match with little to no effort. <em>Whatever. </em>Good for them.</p><p> </p><p>“Figures your soulmate would frequent this type of place,” sneers Gary, when a full minute has gone by, and Ash has made no effort towards that walk he should be taking.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up,” Ash replies, genially.</p><p> </p><p><em>Maybe they don’t,</em> thinks Ash, maybe they too have an annoying friend who dragged them here, and they are now looking down at the mark on their arm with the same disbelief as Ash.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fuck. Are they looking down at the mark on their arm with the same disbelief as Ash?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, why aren’t you drink… oh, shit. Shit, Ash! Your arm! It’s shining!”</p><p> </p><p>Gary scoffs. “Thank you, Ritchie. Acute observation.”</p><p> </p><p>“Acute?” Repeats the other boy. That word sounds funny. Gary’s face is funny, too. Has he always had a twin?</p><p> </p><p>Gary rolls his eyes, and Misty punches him in the arm with unmeasured strength, because <em>don’t confuse him today, it’s his birthday.</em></p><p> </p><p>Ash doesn’t really have the time for this right now. And he decides instead that he should take upon Gary’s suggestion and <em>get a move on.</em></p><p> </p><p>He interrupts the pointless discussion on the table as he stands. “I’m gonna —” Well, he doesn’t really know — “ A walk. Maybe they… ” He points vaguely to his still shining blue arm, hoping the action gets the message across.</p><p> </p><p>Misty nods sympathetically, mouthing a <em>good luck. </em>Gary shoos him away with a hand, but there’s a small, knowing smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>More enthusiastically (and perhaps under the influence of the three shots he’s got in his system), Ritchie pats him in the back and tells him to <em>go for it! Love shines to us tonight! Go find them!</em></p><p> </p><p>The last thing he sees is Gary pulling him back by the shirt, unkindly requesting him to stop embarrassing them, or else he will leave.</p><p> </p><p>He won’t leave. Misty wouldn’t let him.</p><p> </p><p>Idly, and mostly to distract himself, Ash wonders if his dynamic with his own soulmate will be anything like that of his two childhood friends.</p><p> </p><p>But this hole in the ground isn’t all that large, and it really shouldn’t be taking him this long to circle the place. Yet Ash finds himself walking impossibly slow.</p><p> </p><p>Granted, the swarming bodies don’t help much in making quick-way, but Ash has to admit, part of it is <em>him.</em> Being worried silly and nervous.</p><p> </p><p>Because you — <em>Maybe. Hopefully — </em>get to spend a lifetime with your soulmate. You get to go on adventures and share the ride. And it’s marvelous (er…he’s heard, not like he’s paying attention though those stories or anything…).</p><p> </p><p>But you only get to meet them once. And first impressions are most important.</p><p> </p><p>It’s how Misty and Gary have stuck together all these years. After the former saved the latter from drowning in a pool when they were children. Gary sinking to the bottom of the deepest end, an orange glow on his shoulder practically <em>calling </em>to the purple one on Misty’s calve, who was already jumping into the water with the selfless intent to save the poor kid that had just fallen, oblivious to the life changing consequences.</p><p> </p><p>A lifesaver soulmate? <em>Hell yeah, that’s freaking awesome.</em></p><p> </p><p>But sweaty, weary, and surrounded by lousy music, lousy lights, and lousy people?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Uh…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>But Ash doesn’t even think of leaving. Not for a moment he consider turning around and letting this light — that keeps growing brighter by the <em>second — </em>dim again. He’s waited too long. He’s <em>wanted </em>this for too long. And who knows if the chance will ever rise again.</p><p> </p><p>If this is his moment, he’ll take it.</p><p> </p><p>He’ll even forgive his soulmate if they un-ironically enjoy this type of place. Yeah, he could live with that. If he can visit one of these for Ritchie, he sure as hell can do so for his soulmate.</p><p> </p><p>They’re a fated pair, right? They’ll probably have some redeeming qualities.</p><p> </p><p>Ash really hopes they’re nice. If he’s being perfectly, completely honest, and if he can admit to himself right this moment — in the middle of this alcohol sticky floor with this terrible music and practically drowning in this sea of people —, all Ash really cares about is that they are kind.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t care for their gender, their age, the color of their skin or the color of their eyes or their hair, he just wants someone he can talk to about whatever it is soulmates talk about (<em>everything, </em>from what he’s heard), someone he can go on adventures with; someone who will support his dreams, and will let Ash support <em>their </em>dreams. Someone he can take home and introduce to his mom. (He knows she will love them).</p><p> </p><p>Someone who loves <em>him.</em></p><p> </p><p>Will they love him? For something other than being fated. Would they love him?</p><p> </p><p>Ash thinks he may have some redeeming qualities as well.</p><p> </p><p>He’s thinking of them — <em>yeah, he’s loud, </em>but he’s funny and usually good at getting out of trouble. And, <em>yeah, </em>he seeks that trouble onto himself in the first place, but he always sees things through! That’s redeeming, right? — when he bumps into someone.</p><p> </p><p>And, <em>yeah, it’s the hundred person he bumps into in however many minutes. </em>But it’s different.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a complete shift, Ash’s life ending as he’s known it for the previous twenty-one-and-something years.</p><p> </p><p>It’s wide, blue eyes staring back into Ash’s brown ones. They look about as nervous as Ash feels, but they’re shining with something Ash has never seen before.</p><p> </p><p>Something he suddenly never wants to go without again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You will know.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ash thinks this split-second was probably his <em>aha! </em>moment passing by.</p><p> </p><p>“They - they match,” says blue eyes, and Ash will never understand — nor ponder — on how he just heard that murmur above all the noise.</p><p> </p><p>Anxious for no reason, he looks down to confirm that, just as this blue-eyed-stranger has said, they have identical spirals shining on their arms. The only difference is that blue-eyed-stranger’s is red. As Ash knew it would be.</p><p> </p><p>“They match,” Ash repeats, dumbly, and he’s not all too sure the words actually leave his mouth, and if they do, they probably get lost in the cacophony that surrounds them.</p><p> </p><p>But it seems like blue-eyed-stranger hears him anyways, for he nods, and seems to get a hold of himself much faster than Ash is.</p><p> </p><p>Seconds later, Ash still isn’t back to himself, overwhelmed and nearly numb —<em> Is this really his soulmate? This beautiful person, with beautiful eyes, and apparent terrible taste in social joints?</em></p><p> </p><p>How incredibly lucky.</p><p> </p><p>His surprise undermines whatever little common sense Ash carries with him on the daily. But since admitting to that is too embarrassing, Ash will forever blame the incident that follows on drinking one too many Ritchie’s <em>stupid </em>shots, and not on simply being too stunned to function.</p><p> </p><p>(He admits the truth to his soulmate, however, who forever teases him in secret, but plays along with unbreakable complicity when others ask how they met).</p><p> </p><p>Brain-to-mouth connection inexistent, Ash says — <em>shouts,</em> more like, given the setting — “Do you — er, do you come here often?”</p><p> </p><p>Immediately, blue-eyed-stranger raises an eyebrow, assessing Ash carefully.</p><p> </p><p>“Was that a pick-up line?” Blue-eyes asks, looking utterly confused.</p><p> </p><p>Ash blinks. Then blinks again as he processes the question and traces back to what he’s just said. The realization <em>rudely </em>lands him back to reality (and to this place, which he still believes is the gates to the far-beyond).</p><p> </p><p>But Ash is starting to think maybe that’s where he deserves to be, given the absolute stupidity of his words just now, and the way blue-eyed-stranger (who also happens to be his <em>soulmate) </em>must be interpreting them.</p><p> </p><p>Misunderstandings in the middle of a crowded, lousy club?</p><p> </p><p>Not really <em>that </em>awesome.</p><p> </p><p>Ash needs to fix this.</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Ash rushes to explain, and his panicky reaction makes blue-eyed-stranger take a step back. <em>Oh, this is going great, </em>thinks Ash, loving their first meeting more by the second. “I mean,” he tries again, and his throat hurts a little from how much he has to raise his voice. “I didn’t mean it that way! I was just asking!”</p><p> </p><p>That’s still very lame, but at least he doesn’t seem like a lunatic anymore.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Well…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>But maybe the stars knew what they were doing when they fated them together, because blue-eyed-stranger (er… Ash should ask their name) nods again, and seems to easily forgive Ash for acting like a complete idiot.</p><p> </p><p>Soon enough, he offers the hint of a smile. And Ash swears he’s never seen one so bright. “I don’t!” Blue-eyed stranger replies, “one of my friends brought me here! It’s not —! Ah,” he huffs, and Ash knows there’s nothing special to it, but he immediately finds their slightly annoyed expression very endearing. “Can we go somewhere else? It’s too loud in here!”</p><p> </p><p>Ash doesn’t know their name yet, but he grabs their wrist and pulls them through the club at record speed — he pushes his way out, unapologetic and probably rude, but Ash could not care less. He’s already found the one person he needed to cross paths with — until they’re walking through the large main gate, the doorman not even sparing them a glance as they surface into the street.</p><p> </p><p>It’s dark, <em>obviously,</em> as it is well past midnight. And it’s also <em>freezing, </em>but they won’t realize this until some minutes later, when the unbearable heat from downstairs wears down some.</p><p> </p><p>For now, Ash lets go of blue-eyed-stranger’s wrist, and nods once they’re face to face again.</p><p> </p><p>It doesn’t escape him how their eyes seem to shine much more beautifully under the starred night, supported by the artificial light of the streetlamp.</p><p> </p><p>Ash immediately longs to see how those blue eyes shine in the daylight, and he hopes it’s something he gets to appreciate soon. (If they make it past this disastrous first meeting, that is).</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Goh,” says blue-eyed-stra— says <em>Goh.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Ash,” Ash replies, and, because he’s not done embarrassing himself, he extends his hand out for a handshake.</p><p> </p><p>Goh raises an eyebrow again, but takes the offered hand firmly in one of his own.</p><p> </p><p>Their marks go haywire then, bright as they hadn’t been thus far. Blinding, almost.</p><p> </p><p><em>That’s a strong match, </em>reminds Goh’s grandmother in his head. <em>Blinding lights mean you’ve been waiting for each other earnestly.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Nice to meet you,” smiles Ash, genuine, in a way that makes Goh forget all of his previous inane concerns.</p><p> </p><p>Nobody who smiles like that could have a bad soul. Nor could they be the wrong soulmate.</p><p> </p><p>Goh’s friend (Horace, his best friend since childhood) is the one with questionable taste in social joints, and he <em>insisted </em>they came here tonight. He’ll be leaving the city for six months to do an internship, and that rave-y swamp has been his favorite place since he was a freshman in college. Goh hates it, and comes as seldom as possible, but he couldn’t wriggle his way out tonight.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m glad you didn’t,” cheers Ash, as they make their way into a pizza-place that caters late-night, greasy goods for club-goers.</p><p> </p><p>They find a small round table with two tall stools, and order a slice each. Ham and cheese for Ash, cheese-only for Goh, and water, because their throats still hurt from all the yelling back at the club.</p><p> </p><p>As Ash chases a square of ham from his bite, Goh looks at him from across the table, and wonders how his eyes must look in the daylight:<em> do they shine golden like the sun?</em></p><p> </p><p>All of Ash feels like the sun, in the twenty or so minutes Goh has spent with him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And he gets a lifetime of this?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>How incredibly lucky.</p><p> </p><p>He smiles to Ash’s words, and, with his voice full of sincerity, replies: “Me, too.”</p><p> </p><p>(Ash promises he doesn’t frequent that club, either. His dumb friend had dragged him there, too, and, much like Goh, he couldn’t wriggle out.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m glad you didn’t,” says Goh, a mirror of Ash’s words minutes before, accompanied by a little, bold wink that has them both blushing like the teenagers they <em>aren’t</em>).</p><p> </p><p>(Much, much later — when they share a home and a life and kind memories of many adventures together, and when their soul-marks dim down naturally as they’ve gotten used to the proximity, but still shine healthily on the moments that test their bond — Ash will ask Goh what he thought of their first encounter. If there was something he would change.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought you were like the sun,” will reply Goh, honest and still in love, “a little clumsy, but bright.” Ash will laugh, and bump their shoulders together playfully. “And I wouldn’t change anything.” Goh will reassure.</p><p> </p><p>Because he wouldn’t. Clumsy and bright is who Ash is, and is what Goh first noticed in him years back. Is what keeps shining through his character every day. And it’s a great part of why Goh loves him.</p><p> </p><p>And Ash will look back to that first encounter, and his cheeks will still flush red with embarrassment and flustered energy at his behavior, but he will have to agree with his soulmate in that he wouldn’t change anything, either.</p><p> </p><p>Introductions under a street-lamplight and pizza dates at midnight? <em>Hell yeah.</em></p><p> </p><p>That’s freaking awesome).</p><p> </p><p>(Neither Horace nor Ritchie ever let them live down the fact that they met at the rave-club. And obnoxiously call themselves the guardian angels of their bond, despite repeated requests to stop doing so.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Should we rent the place for your wedding?”</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Absolutely not.”)</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’d go to rave clubs sometimes when I lived in London, and this *one time* a friend took me to one in Germany that positively changed my life. They’re awful joints all right, but in a charming way.</p><p>thank you for reading! I have a handful of these in progress, but if you have any suggestions of soulmate tropes that you would like to see, please feel free to drop them in the comments!! I’d love to tinker with fresh ideas 😊</p><p>All the love, hope see ya next month. Be safe out there x</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>'verse three: there’s a unique song imprinted in your mind that only you and your soulmate knows, and you can hear your soulmate’s voice in your head when they sing it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello ! happy mid April x // This is my favorite month of the year, and I had a lovely time writing this month's snippet. I used the prompt given by the lovely FiftyShadesOfKillua (did I butcher your user? I hope not &gt;.&lt;) in the comments last month! I'll definitely keep drawing from those, so feel free to add suggestions if you'd like.</p>
<p>thank you so, so much for reading. I hope you'll like it♥︎</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>III — there’s a unique song imprinted in your mind that only you and your soulmate knows, and you can hear your soulmate’s voice in your head when they sing it.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It begins as a humming melody in his childhood, when he’s too young to even realize what it means.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a weekend trip to Lavender Town to visit his mom’s aunt. Not particularly a long drive, but Goh finds himself getting bored, and then, without even repairing on it, he begins to hum as he stares out the backseat window: trees, clouds, Pokémon, the sun hidden behind that cloud in the shape of a strawberry…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Hmm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmm…</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh keeps it up the entire day, mostly unconsciously, and doesn’t understand what his auntie means when she says <em>“my, and so young. It’ll be a strong one.” </em>So he just keeps playing with Roselia instead, and with the recently hatched Budew that dance around her beautiful garden, making the gardenias turn different colors.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His mother says, <em>“I hope so,” </em>and Goh still doesn’t understand, but she merely shakes her head with a smile and ruffles his hair, reassuring Goh that he’ll get it someday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>❊</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fourteen years later, Goh <em>gets it. </em>He gets it quite well, in fact. And what once was a little humming in his head has turned into a full-fledged song. Four verses, two choruses, a melody that lives in the holiest place of his mind, adored despite its cryptic lyrics, despite the unfortunate fact that Goh has yet to find the one other person who also knows the melody by heart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And he <em>doesn’t get it,</em> because, certainly, the song is <em>complete, </em>by all meanings and accounts, he should be meeting his soulmate soon. <em>Hell, </em>he should’ve met them a while ago. Well over a year, in fact. It’s infuriating.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe hadn’t even finished telling him she’d completed it, when, literal seconds later, a guy passed them by in the supermarket singing the lyrics out-loud. And the recognition was instant, right there, next to the dairy and the bread aisle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh loves their song, loves what it represents, loves the idea of having something that belongs to <em>them, </em>and them alone…but, <em>fuck, </em>he’s getting a bit tired of it, of humming it everywhere in the hopes that, eventually, he’ll pass by the person who will recognize it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He also kind of hopes his soulmate is sick and tired of hearing him as well, maybe that’ll prompt them to <em>get a move </em>and try to find Goh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What truly worries him the most, however, is not the constant singing to nobody’s ears. Rather, it’s the fact that his own soulmate doesn’t sing the song that often. Only a handful of times or so, actually, in the year since they figured out the full lyrics.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before that, it was a constant humming, always the buzzy <em>hmm-hm-hm…</em>that would pop up at random moments of his day — some times in dreams, which prompted Goh to believe they lived in different time-zones — when he was in school, or right in the middle of a catch, distracting and confusing, his <em>almost </em>new Pokémon getting away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the last sixteen months — yes, he’s kept tally. <em>No, </em>he won’t admit it to anyone — Goh’s only heard it a few times, though. On the day the lyrics were complete, his soulmate helpfully adding the very last lines of the song, clear for Goh to catch, engraving in his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then, instead of picking up from the top, it just went quiet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was quite for <em>months </em>on his soulmate’s side<em>, </em>until they sang it in full again one day in late-May. Then mid-August. Christmas. New Year’s, then May again (the same day as the year prior, which leads Goh to believe it might a birthday, or another significant landmark). But he can’t be sure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh can’t be sure of <em>anything. </em>He doesn’t even know if his soulmate <em>likes him. </em>Yeah, the figuring out a song together was fun; it was a bit of a game, all the years spent adding words and verses to the melody, unraveling what would be the soundtrack to the most important relationship of their lives.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And it was great for a long time, and, even though they had yet to meet, Goh felt as though he already shared a real, palpable bond with this person, even when all they did was add words to a puzzle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But then thing started changing, over the last year or so, just before they completed the song, Goh felt something in their dynamic change. His soulmate would still occasionally hum the song, the little noise in Goh’s head almost comforting, but it was always only a minute or so before it’d cut abruptly, as if interrupted, or distracted by something else. He hadn’t heard his soulmate’s voice singing their song in forever, so long in fact, that he’s nearly forgotten what they sounded like.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That’s the thing he knows for sure: his soulmate has been awfully quiet for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And perhaps they <em>are, </em>indeed, annoyed with Goh, what with his incessant singing, both out-loud and in his head. Goh thought he was being clever, calling out and trying to let his soulmate know that he was <em>here, </em>he was <em>ready. He couldn’t wait to see them.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>But perhaps all he was doing was being annoying, and driving his soulmate insane to the point of pushing them away. Making them never want to meet Goh. After all, who’d want someone so pushy for a soulmate?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Despite his self-deprecating thoughts, Goh finds himself singing the song anyways, a soft murmur of the lyrics, a bit off-key, but comforting nonetheless. Because that’s what his — <em>their — </em>song is about. Comfort. About feeling chosen, despite the hardships that might arise. And Goh wants — <em>needs — </em>to believe their song represents them, what would be their relationship.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s spent too much of his life being told that he’s too much. That his dreams are too big and his ambitions too grand, and that he shouldn’t be so confident in himself because, sooner or later, he is going to fail. And Goh will turn the other way and act as if it didn’t even register. But the truth is, some-times, when it’s only him and Cinderace all alone in the middle of some forest, those words will haunt him, like arrows aiming straight for his heart, straight for his insecurities.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And when those days happen, Goh will fight back by singing the song that lives in his head. A song about fighting hard and staying true to your dreams, a song about living every-day to the fullest, embracing the adventure that is life, and never giving up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>That’s </em>what Goh believes in. And if the universe got it right, then it’s what his soulmate will believe in, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And perhaps that’s why the idea of not meeting them (or <em>worse, </em>of them not liking Goh) aches so much. Because Goh desperately wants to find that comfort in his soulmate’s embrace, rather than just their song.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wants to feel chosen, not like an obligation, not like something Fate decided, but actually <em>chosen, </em>actively so. Goh wants — <em>needs — </em>to be seen, in the way only his soulmate can see him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ferry’s horn breaks Goh out his thoughts, out of his singing. To his side, Cinderace pulls at his sleeve to get his attention, pointing to the city that raises in front of them. All concrete surrounded — fueled — by nature.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By-the-sea-cities aren’t new to Goh (he’s a Vermillion native, after all). But something about Fula City’s harmony with its environment remains captivating, even on his fifth visit in as many years. Even when the Wind-Festival has lost is novelty, and even when he’s long-since captured every Pokémon within a ten mile ratio. Regardless, Goh’s made the journey over every year since he was fifteen, because <em>this </em>might just be the year he sees Lugia, and have his fateful encounter with the legendary creature of the seas.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>At least one of my fateful encounters should be happening soon, </em>he thinks, a little bitterly, as he makes his way expertly out of the ferry, and into the overcrowded streets of the harbor, the very entrance of the Festival.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ready, bud?” Cinderace nods determinedly, ears already up and scanning, attentive to every-change in the wind. Any hint of Lugia being nearby.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a long shot, of course. But it’s a long shot every year, and that hasn’t ever deterred Goh from trying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gear ready, Goh makes his way through the far edges of the city, higher altitude, still close to the sea.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Any-moment now, </em>he thinks, and begins to sing again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>❊</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash isn’t particularly a fan of the crowds, even when he’s plenty used to them. But there is a marked difference between a crowd cheering your name as you deliver the critical hit that will win you a League, and the hoards of people that have just spotted him and Pikachu casually strolling down the Festival booths.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The difference is the distance. The precious, <em>important </em>distance that keeps you from being mugged in the midst of incomprehensible shouts to <em>please take a picture with me! </em>And <em>are you ready for the next championship season?! </em>And the not so-kind <em>you’ve lowered your standards a bit…</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Which is a bit funny, if not ironic, because Ash’s bar for himself is held so high he can’t even see it anymore.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And so, without those marvelous meters to keep him apart form the mob, Ash finds himself positively trapped, signing his name repetitively until his hand hurts, and smiling up for most-likely blurry selfies, thanking people for their support — and <em>rude </em>feedback — with sincere words, if a little forced by the tenth time he has to say them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All throughout, he keeps a sure hold on Pikachu, who is a bit too much of an attention-seeker, and doesn’t quite realize how people pet him around with an underlying intention of running away with him. (No, he’s not being paranoid, it’s happened before. Twice.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash endures the whole episode with a well-trained smile, and doesn’t falter when the crowd keeps getting <em>bigger. </em>I’s all right, he can take it, he’s been training under Leon’s wing long enough that he, too, has become a showman of sorts. He understands this is part of it as well. The praise, the autographs, the loudness that deafens you and hardly lets you <em>think.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash gets it. And he can take it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But some-times, and only to himself, Ash will admit that perhaps life was a little easier (his dream just <em>a bit </em>more enjoyable) when there wasn’t so much attention on his every-move. He wants to train, to challenge and forge meaningful bonds with his Pokémon. That’s it. He can do without the cameras. And although he loves the spotlight <em>most </em>of the time, he can do without it, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s still incredible, though. Making it this close to the top, being so young still. <em>So much greatness yet to see from Pallet-town’s extraordinaire, Ash Ketchum.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>And up and rising star. Or so they say…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everyone says so much, and it gets <em>so loud, </em>so impossible for Ash to distinguish what thoughts are his own, what’s something he’s heard from someone else somewhere else, some person he’s never met who has a clear-cut opinion on his technique, his talent, where he will go from here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s all so loud, and in the year and half it’s taken Ash to get this far in the world-rankings, he can hardly recall a minute in which he’s had <em>quiet. </em>Let alone a full day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He <em>longs </em>to go back to Pallet, at least his escapade there over the holidays gave him much needed peace and, even with his mother’s smothering and mortifying picture taking, he got some quiet as well. Some time to recharge. Before the road, his dreams, (and now, his obligations), pulled him back into a world that <em>can’t wait</em> to hear the next thing that’ll come out of his mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frankly, and even though he’s always been on the louder side, all Ash wants is <em>silence.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Silence, and perhaps three full minutes of uninterrupted time to himself. That’s how long it usually takes Ash to get through the song that lives in his head. Only three-minutes and nobody to distract him, to call him into the dressing-room, the arena, the next round of press-conferences…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Foolishly, Ash thought that maybe he could disappear among the thousands of bodies cruising this weekend through Fula City. The Wind-Festival was kicking off, endless activities and attractions to keep everyone engaged for days. No need to mind a champion. Who would notice him among these many people?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s even changed his hat! Going for an old one he hasn’t worn in ages (and that he certainly hasn’t yet worn to any interviews). That, along with a thrifted pair of sunglasses, ought to be enough to make him just another person. Right?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And that’s why he’s now literally <em>running </em>away from the group that never-stopped-getting-bigger, dodging people and booths left and right, Pikachu getting dizzy with the speed and the sharp turns, as Ash tries to find an alley, a corner, <em>anything </em>that will lead him to an escape.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It arrives in the shape of an up-hill stair line — not <em>ideal, </em>but he’s got more than enough condition to stride his way up, successfully putting much-missed distance between him and the hoards of fans, that has now broken into smaller groups, still searching for him, but considerably winded down when they realize Ash is no longer an easy find among the fellow-festival-goers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s distanced himself from the festival altogether, but that might be for the best right now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Crisis adverted, Ash lets Pikachu jump back on his shoulder, and lowers his pace enough that he’s not panting anymore. It goes uphill for another good chunk of the road, but Ash finds he doesn’t mind it much. With every new step, he can see the ocean a little clearer, its blues mixing with those of the skies, in a way that is somehow mesmerizing. Calling, almost. Though Ash can’t quite name the feeling of being called by a <em>color. </em>By the sea and clear skies and the waves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He indulges in it for a moment, and it’s delighted when the familiar melody begins to sing in his head, a perfect soundtrack to the scene before his eyes. He longs to sing-back, but refrains from doing so. It’s so much more beautiful in <em>their</em> voice, anyways.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash has these lyrics imprinted in his heart, and yet, it’s been so seldom the times he’s been able to sing them to his heart’s content. But it doesn’t go a day when he doesn’t hear them. It doesn’t go a day in which his soulmate — whoever they are — misses chanting the words. If out-loud, or just in their minds, Ash can’t know, but it doesn’t matter, because he hears them either way. Clear and soft and <em>perfect.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A song that’s kept him going every day for the last year, and for much longer before that, as they worked out the lyrics and the verses and that funny tilt of the chorus. All the little moments in which Ash realized <em>hey, this goes in the song! </em>Promptly singing it in his mind, so his soulmate would know it, too. So they could keep building this beautiful melody together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s so many things he wants to build with them. <em>Together.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The song’s been finished for a while. But Ash has yet to bump ways with its other owner. <em>Not by lack of trying — </em>though, if he’s being perfectly honest, there hasn’t been much time for <em>trying </em>recently.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There hasn’t even been time to <em>sing, </em>to meet them halfway every now and again. To let them know that he’s still thinking of them. Ash never stops thinking of them, of the blanketing comfort that brings listening to their song in his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the middle of battle, right before training or during an interview. At night, when he’s too tired to do anything but hit his pillows and <em>sleep, </em>but he still tries to take a minute to think of <em>them. </em>To wonder if they are around, if tomorrow might be the day their paths cross.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he looks out into the wide oceans, wind hitting his face, moving the waves…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tries to hum the song as much as he can, but he’s almost always only a minute in before this-thing-or-the-other pulls out of his head, into <em>whatever </em>else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But on his birthdays he sings it religiously. A comfort of another type, a lull that reminds him he was born for <em>reasons. </em>For greatness and to fulfill his dreams. But also to be loved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not loved by the cameras, or by the online fan-groups, but truly, <em>genuinely </em>loved. He is to be found and <em>seen, </em>perceived. Not for being Ash, the Pallet-town champion extraordinaire. But Ash, the reckless kid with big dreams, and an even bigger heart (and <em>no, </em>he’s not fancying himself, merely repeating his mother’s words. The only person’s — beside his soulmate’s — opinion he truly cares about).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>And you will be so loved, baby. Just wait and see.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why, Ash has been waiting for a minute, he’s ready for the <em>seeing </em>part. Any-moment now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>❊</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not his gear, his careful calculations, or his perfectly designed application. It’s not even Cinderace, whose ears still lift and turn, if a millisecond later. Instead is <em>instinct. </em>Something Goh doesn’t necessarily trust, but that calls him and practically <em>pulls </em>him towards the higher-end of the hill he’s been walking for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He runs, fast and hard, keeps going even when his lungs begin to burn. Cinderace maintains the pace until they’re both forced to a stop, when it’s the edge of the mountain, and something large and <em>powerful </em>rises in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Lugia, </em>thinks Goh, before he stops thinking altogether, giving in to instinct again, and <em>jumping </em>onto the creature’s back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>❊</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The <em>almost </em>silence doesn’t last long. The song stops abruptly in his head, and instead Ash begins to hear some-sort of rustling noise. <em>Loud, </em>but not in the haunting way he’s gotten accustomed to. If anything, this noise is calling him. Tempting him to walk closer to the edge of the cliff, to see, <em>just peek, </em>what might be beyond it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What laid beyond begins to rise above, a shadow lifting from seemingly thin air, and a deafening cry of <em>legendary </em>clearing all the thoughts from his head. Pikachu’s exclamation hardly registers, as does its strong, probably painful pull to Ash’s hair, as it holds for dear life to its trainer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Led by unwavering thirst for adventure, Ash follows the first thought that pops in his head. And jumps.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>❊</p>
<p>“<em>What are you doing here?!”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a simultaneous shout of surprise, of disbelief at seeing someone else attempt something as reckless — as <em>dangerous — </em>as jumping onto a legendary Pokémon out of the blue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>So cool, </em>it’s what cruises through Ash’s head, as he meets the imposing creature’s eyes for a brief moment, acknowledgement and admiration shared in a nanosecond, as Lugia turns around and continues surfing the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For his part, Goh is immediately back into researcher-mode, and he momentarily ignores the newfound company be in the benefit of snapping a dozen pictures of Lugia’s back-fins. It’s rougher than Goh’d imagined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s so warm, though,” comments the other man. “After all, it is Lugia, so that’s exactly how it should be…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh tilts his head, a bit confused by the declaration. But he doesn’t make it too far in terms of making a follow-up question, because Lugia <em>shrieks </em>again, all might and unkempt power, loudly enough that they all have to bring quick-hands to their ears, and not even then it’s the deafening noise muted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One moment they’re going up, and on the next one they are spearing straight into the ocean, that parts and gives way to Lugia (and the added weight on its back…). It’s droplets of water and rainbows and <em>magic. </em>And then, without any warning — or half a moment to catch some <em>air —</em> they’re underwater.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a nudge to Goh’s shoulder, and he tentatively peeks his eyes open. He doesn’t regret it, because there’s even more magic underneath. Water-type Pokémon parading and swimming around each-other, moved by the inner currents, and dancing around Lugia’s body as if they were used to it, and they don’t seem scared or surprised by the small party that has joined the lord of the seas this time around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s almost welcoming, and it’s wonderful — until their faces begin to turn blue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But it’s as if Lugia knew exactly what they were feeling, because it’s pushing them back above-water in a swift rise, a whirlpool forming and breaking as it bats its wings open, both men and their Pokémon gasping for air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That was close,” pants the blue-eyed man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He receives a tired nod, and a shy smile.“Yeah, but you know what? It was awesome to meet so many Pokémon!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh studies him for a moment, takes in the worn-looking hat, the brown eyes, the funny cheek-marks, the dark-hair and the Pikachu panting on his lap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s something familiar in this stranger. Something immediately kind and warm that <em>calls </em>for Goh. But he’s too shocked still, too caught up in the last few minutes of adventure to ponder much into what, <em>exactly, </em>this feeling is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So Goh goes on instinct again, and laughs, open and wide and <em>happy. </em>“You’re pretty funny, you know?” He offers, and brown-eyes positively <em>shine </em>at the words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah?” He asks back, “you think so?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh nods his confirmation, still smiling. “I’m Goh,” he says, offering his hand in greeting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ash,” responds the trainer, shaking it enthusiastically, “and this is my partner, Pikachu,” he adds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nice to meet you,” says Goh, nodding for Cinderace to come forward, “this is Cinderace.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their Pokémon seem to get along immediately, and Ash is distracted by their interaction when he feels Goh’s piercing — honestly, kinda-sorta-<em>beautiful </em>— blue eyes on him. As if he were trying to figure Ash out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You seem familiar,” is what Goh says, more a question than a statement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash blinks, and gapes before responding. “Ah, maybe…” he offers, weakly. “I’m a Pokémon Trainer,” he adds, some of his nervousness winding down. If Goh didn’t recognize him on the spot, there’s little chance he’s an ‘insane fan’. Perhaps just a casual one. Perhaps not a fan at all, for a change.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh nods, though he doesn’t seem any more clued-in as to who Ash is. “Yeah? That’s cool. I am, too! Though I don’t participate of the championships, or anything like that. We mostly do research, and we’re pretty good catchers,” he explains, a proud thumb coming up to point at himself. He hears Ash hum along in understanding, an easy acknowledgement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Hmm-hm.</em>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something glitches in Goh, and he blinks to Ash a few times before uttering a somewhat confused.<em> “</em>Do you…er — do you challenge Leagues?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Faltering a bit as well, Ash nods. “Sure, every now and again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(In fact, Ash has won six of them. But he doesn’t feel like confessing to that right now, momentarily enamored by this rare anonymity — and <em>maybe </em>with Goh’s blue eyes. But he needn’t confess that, either.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It grows quiet after that, and Goh uses the breather to take in the scenery. Clear skies, the sea beneath them, an upcoming meadow. Trees, clouds, Pokémon, the sun hidden behind that cloud in the shape of a pineapple. Pikachu and Cinderace still playing behind them. And this new person next to him, who’d been bold enough to jump atop a legendary creature as well. Funny cheek-marks, sunny eyes, and a presence so bright Goh almost feels blinded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>A friend, </em>Goh thinks, perhaps one that might understand him better than most have. They certainly share the call for adventure. And Goh certainly feels <em>drawn, </em>even though he can’t quite pinpoint why at the moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lugia speeds up again, faster than it has thus far, and it’s not long before they’re all holding for dear life again, Cinderace and Pikachu holding each other and onto Lugia’s rasp spine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s flying alongside Rapidash for a few seconds, green, large meadows and forests around them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, a heartbeat later,they’re being carelessly thrown onto the ground, an unsuspecting Vileplume softening — if just a bit — their fall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash lands on his face, and Goh isn’t done chuckling and questioning his well-being before Lugia shrieks one last-time, a roaring noise that breaks through the empty fields, calling them and all available Pokémon to its attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One last rise, one last twirl, and they see it off with waving arms and Ash’s shouted <em>thank you’s, </em>that are probably lost to Lugia’s already disappearing form.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And there it goes,” murmurs Goh, watching the magical creature turn a dot in the distance, lost in the clouds and the blues of the sky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh tries to stand, to move and figure out where they are, how far from Fula City — <em>where even is Fula City? — </em>but before he gets too far there’s a hand wrapping around his wrist, and brown eyes that look a little pleading boring into his blue-ones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can we stay a little bit longer?” Ash asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mesmerized, Goh simply nods in response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash offers a small smile in gratitude, sighs out, breaths in, and proceeds to plop on his back, arms crossing behind his head. The corner of his eye catches Pikachu and Cinderace now playing with Gloom and Oddish; it’s such a rare treat, this quiet, this sense of peace and feeling like a normal person again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It will be a moment lost in time, Ash knows, but for as long as he has it, he wants to indulge in it. To enjoy it until it’s through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pleasantly enough, the silence with Goh isn’t awkward, even when they have just met, and are still virtually strangers, Ash feels as though he can unwind a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s <em>freeing. </em>And Ash revels in the silence, next to this new friend, who has kind blue eyes, and an overall sense of <em>peace </em>to them that instantly calms Ash’s fast-tracked mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally at ease, and simply because he <em>can, </em>Ash begins to hum, going along with the lyrics to the song in his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Hmm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmm…</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s one minute and some seconds in when he realizes that, while he’s not singing, he’s hearing the words to the song anyways.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not in his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But right next to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The same voice Ash has heard a thousand times before. Beautiful, crips, and…<em>oh.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps more than just a new friend, then.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With uncanny patience, the trainer sits-up again. Not in a rush, not scared, or nervous, but sure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash doesn’t stop his humming, not even when his eyes meet Goh’s, who hasn’t stopped singing, either, his pretty voice a hushed murmur of the words Ash forever carries in his heart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s blue to ember, tears pooling at the corners of both of their eyes, and the last words of the song reverberate in the space between them as loud as they do in both of their heads, Ash’s humming has muted as well, a lingering sound that carries in their minds for a second after they are finished.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a shaky exhale from Goh, and Ash’s hand coming up on instinct, thumbing away the tears that have freely fallen from his eyes. The hand stays on Goh’s face simply to caress his cheek, the gesture making Goh — his <em>soulmate — </em>release a watery chuckle instead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi,” says Goh. A little dumbly, his heart too filled with hope and joy to care.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ash <em>beams, </em>and leans in to press their foreheads together, never breaking eye contact as he responds with an equally silly, “hello.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Be chosen. Be seen.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a recognition. And though there’s thousands of words to be said, the silence is too appreciated to be broken just yet. There will be time for words later, for full blown conversations and confessions and memories to share.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Right now this is all they need.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a world around them still. There’s the meadow and their Pokémon and who-knows-how-many miles separating them from Fula City, and the Wind Festival. There’s Pokémon to catch for Goh and tournaments to win for Ash. Out there, far from here, remain the lives they have led until this very moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And yet, none of that stands anymore. Not as they know it. <em>Knew it. </em>Because it’s different now. Because from this very moment on —<em> this moment,</em> that Ash believed stolen. Forgotten.— they are no longer searching. No longer waiting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They have been <em>found.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s fragile and precious, and it belongs entirely to <em>them. </em>Like the lyrics of their song, like the years spent carefully crafting every bit of the melody. The longing and the insecurities crushed by the certainty shining in the other’s eyes, by the way their hands find each other’s in between their bodies, and lace together as if they’d done so millions of times before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goh exhales again, overwhelmed but <em>full. </em>Happy. Complete at last. And all it takes is Ash’s delicately bumping of their noses together for the tension to break.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Instead there’s laughter, easy and unkempt, trapped for a second in the space between their mouths, then freed into the meadow, the skies, the distance between them and the city.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Laughter that flows and <em>stays — </em>sure as their song —for the rest of their lives.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Can you imagine hearing your soulmate's voice in your head? 🥺 It'd probably drive me crazy ahahaha - though I love singing, so it'd probably be me driving /them/ insane.</p>
<p>also a good moment to shamelessly self-promote and tell you that the next part of the biptbu 'verse is coming on April 30th !! yay ! I did a whole cheesy announcement on <a href="https://nodameshield.tumblr.com/post/648400239693381632/hello-lovely-peeps-who-may-or-may-not-read-my">Tumblr</a> , and an even cheesier one on <a href="https://twitter.com/nodamebeat/status/1382325265834004487?s=20">Twitter</a> <br/> (where I also post bits of stories every now and again cof cof ). </p>
<p>anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one, please leave your love in the box below or in the shape of kudos (if you want/can), and please stay very safe out there !! love ya!</p>
<p>H.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I spoke about this prompt eons ago on a tweet, and while I'm working on a behemoth soulmate au that I was *hoping* to post this month, I've been sorta going through it these last few weeks, and I just haven't gotten around to finishing it.</p><p>Here's some lighthearted, one-night-stand-to-soulmates goodness for you - how does that work, you may wonder? why, read ahead!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>‘IV — Soulmate marks are only visible after meeting and/or touching.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> Ever heard that line, ‘<em>while waiting for the right person, have fun with the wrong one’</em>?</p><p> </p><p>Well, Goh believes in that. And most likely so does everyone else in this club tonight, which is why he doesn’t feel too bad about being here, nor does he feel guilty of the way he’s just pushed a total stranger against a nearby wall, or of the way he’s assaulted their mouth with his own in what he <em>wishes</em> could be justified as some ‘mutual-flirting’ story, but that it’s instead nothing otherthan an inexplicable urge that overtook Goh the second their eyes briefly connected across the dance-floor.</p><p> </p><p>That being said, given the way <em>they</em> are responding — that is, with their hands burying in Goh’s hair, and little whimpers leaving their mouth — Goh will take a wild guess and say this other person doesn’t feel half-bad about it, either.</p><p> </p><p>There’s no harm in it, no strings or concerns about either party getting attached after a few stolen moments in the darkness of a club. This is, essentially, just fun. There are no hearts to break, no marks tying them, no universal promises or fated moments have occurred yet. So it’s all right. Goh can keep kissing this stranger, and neither of them have any reason to feel guilty or disappointed by it. They are not taking anything from anyone because the universe — technically — hasn’t laid any claims on their souls yet.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe that’s why Goh doesn’t quite understand the feeling that suddenly strikes him when he leans back momentarily, both him and stranger catching their breath, and he peers into the deepest, most mesmerizing sienna eyes he’s ever found.</p><p> </p><p>And <em>fuck, </em>thinks Goh, <em>what is this feeling? </em>And why is he feeling it right now? <em>It’s definitely not the time, nor the place.</em></p><p> </p><p>It’s too much, Goh quickly decides, and chooses to instead dive in for a new kiss to keep from thinking any longer. He is received with feverish enthusiasm, with arms wrapping around his waist and a low-chuckle that is impossibly <em>hot, </em>even when it’s probably involuntary. If anything, that just makes it all the more arousing. Goh moans into the kiss — <em>also involuntarily, that’s how good the kiss is — </em>and grips broad shoulders with his arms to disguise his shaking legs. And it’s a good thing is so dark in here, because he’d be properly embarrassed of the way his cheeks flush as he foolishly chases after stranger’s lips as they, once more, pull away.</p><p> </p><p>“Ash,” they babble, leaning back just enough that they catch their breath without directly exhaling into Goh’s face.</p><p> </p><p>Goh responds with a confused eyebrow raise, only to be suddenly met with an extended hand…which — they’ve just had their tongues down each other’s throats, it <em>might</em> be a little late for the formalities. Though it’s oddly charming, in its own way.</p><p> </p><p>“My name is Ash,” they elaborate, when Goh doesn’t react any further.</p><p> </p><p>Goh studies them curiously; messy raven hair, funny cheek-marks and deep brown eyes, gentle and inviting and indescribably warm…<em>special, </em>but…no, no. Before he can think too much again, Goh stretches out his hand with a little huffed laugh, finally joining his half of the belated — <em>unnecessary — </em>hand-shake. “You’re a funny character, aren’t you,” he comments, to which Ash merely smiles in response, probably a little confused by Goh as well. “I’m Goh,” he offers, watching Ash’s smile turn from shy to blinding.</p><p> </p><p>“Nice to meet you, Goh,” Ash says, looking complicit.</p><p> </p><p>Goh can’t help to openly laugh at that. <em>Bit of an understatement, isn’t it? </em>Considering the way this first meeting is going. Ash laughs as well, something free and joyous and boldly contrasting with the deafening music, the bodies swimming around them, and the faint smell of liquor and <em>stickiness </em>that lingers in the air.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” begins Goh, thinking against his better judgement that he’d very much like to take Ash home tonight, even when those sienna eyes still spark something hard to name within him. “Ash…” the lazy smile isn’t helping, either.“Do you wanna — ”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Yes,” </em>replies Ash, eyes positively <em>shining.</em></p><p> </p><p>“I haven’t said — ”</p><p> </p><p>Ash interrupts again, shaking their head. “I don’t care. Just — <em>Yes. </em>To anything you say.”</p><p> </p><p><em>Come home with me, </em>Goh wants to say. <em>Spend the night with me.</em></p><p> </p><p>Even when the next day comes and Ash leaves, even when chances are high their paths will not be crossing again. Even when those mesmerizing eyes and funny cheek-marks and charming smile are meant for someone else in the universe, Goh would count himself lucky if they are his for only one night. Only a few hours. And it’s all right, he keeps telling himself. It’ll mean nothing one-day, when their true soul-mates come along. But for tonight. If it could just be special for tonight. He’d cherish it all the same.</p><p> </p><p>His soulmate will never have to know of this stranger with beautiful eyes who took Goh’s breath away. Or of this feeling of …<em>what the fuck is this feeling, anyways?</em></p><p> </p><p><em>It doesn’t matter. </em>For once, Goh doesn’t want to ponder on it. Now when it’s so easy to reach out a hand and ask Ash to come with him, to go back to his apartment and <em>stop thinking already.</em></p><p> </p><p>But that’d be <em>too easy.</em> And while Goh would very much enjoy the memories of him and Ash kissing some more and breaking valuable trinkets in the haste to his room, he would also like to have a little something more in this already stolen night. Find out a few more ways to have Ash’s face break into that sunny smile he’s just volunteered for the first time.</p><p> </p><p><em>Come home with me, </em>Goh wants to say, but instead what he asks is: “Dance with me?”</p><p> </p><p>It’s easy to make him smile, resolves Goh, as Ash nods their head enthusiastically, and takes Goh’s hand to pull him back into the dance-floor.</p><p> </p><p>It’s blurry from there on. It’s dancing and kissing and talking — well, shouting above the noise and <em>hoping </em>the other person properly understands what’s being said — for uncounted hours. They’re surrounded by hundreds of other people and yet it’s like they’ve landed on a world of their own. And Goh, drunk in this inexplicable feeling inside him, for a fleeting moment thinks perhaps this will be it. And that’d be just fine as well, he’s having too much fun to care.</p><p> </p><p>But then the kisses escalate even past what’s permissible in a crowded club, and their intentions become too clear on each other’s eyes, on the way they are touching one another, Ash licks his lips and Goh thinks he hears someone shouting <em>last call, </em>and <em>no, no. This can be over yet.</em></p><p> </p><p>And <em>come home with me, </em>Goh — finally — asks, hopeful, while another part of him, the reasoning one that he can’t quite shut for good, silently prays that this feeling subdues in him, and that tomorrow he can think of this merely as what it is, a hook-up, a one-night-stand that’ll be forgotten in time. Nothing more. No strings — <em>no marks — </em>attached to it.</p><p> </p><p>Oblivious to Goh’s turmoil, but just as eager, Ash uses the same reply he has all night, smiling brightly, and uttering a resolute <em>yes.</em></p><p> </p><p>…</p><p> </p><p><em>This is not my room, </em>thinks Ash, as he lazily begins to blink awake. As his eyes adjust to the light filtering through the half-open window, he realizes its not even is <em>roommate’s </em>room. In fact, it doesn’t look like his apartment <em>at all.</em></p><p> </p><p>He’s confused for a moment, but then the rapid memories of hungry kisses against elevator doors flood his mind, along with those of curious hands undressing him. He remembers blue eyes, dark skin, and … knocking off a lamp at some point?</p><p> </p><p><em>That was fun, </em>Ash thinks, not without a blush rushing to his face, and the faint sensation of good ache in his muscles. The only thing putting him slightly off is the realization that he’s woken up all alone, and he’s pretty sure that hadn’t been the case when he’d fallen asleep.</p><p> </p><p>This is not a hotel, that much he knows, because he clearly remembers Goh saying <em>come home with me, </em>with a lilt so pleading, so oddly respectful. Ash probably would have said yes to him regardless, but the way he asked… he simply couldn’t deny.</p><p> </p><p>So where could Goh be right now? And why isn’t he <em>here? </em>With Ash? Soaking into the morning after before they — ?</p><p> </p><p><em>Ah, </em>Ash doesn’t want to think about that right now.</p><p> </p><p>Instead he looks around the edges of the bed, trying to locate his discarded pants, and within the pockets of it his cellphone. As expected, battery is dangerously low, but Ash still can see the string of messages Ritchie has left overnight, wincing as he reads through them, feeling terrible for having worried his friend.</p><p> </p><p><em>I’m alive! </em>He texts back, with a few reassurances that everything’s all right, he’s not been kidnapped or attacked or anything else terrible. In fact he’s all good! He’ll be back home soon — <em>later — </em>and there’s nothing to worry about.</p><p> </p><p>He’s thankful to see his friend’s got his back, and he can understand why his roommate would be so concerned. Ash isn’t one for the one-night-stand thing, and it’s really only been a few, careful occasions when he’s dared to end up in someone’s house, or let someone come to his own.</p><p> </p><p>Even last night had been an extraordinary event, born out of less than stellar reasoning on his part. But Ash had just…he’d been feeling a little low after learning that Gary, his lifelong friend and rival, had found his soulmate back home in Pallet-town, in Ash’s <em>mom’s </em>produce market, of all places, as they both reached out for a carrot (a tomato? Potato…? <em>Whatever). </em>Soul-marks had bloomed instantly, beautiful and visible right in front of the vegetable rack.</p><p> </p><p>And just like that, Gary had found her. Easy as a breeze. He’d won again.</p><p> </p><p>To Ash, it felt as though the universe was laughing in his face. And to regain some sense of power over his life, Ash decided he’d be going out. Not necessarily to end up tangled in someone’s bed, mind you, but simply to take his mind off the fact that it hadn’t been him.</p><p> </p><p>Gary left the market with a soulmate on his arm and a mark on the back of his hand. And Ash?</p><p> </p><p>Well, Ash has never even felt the itch, that calling people say they feel when their time arrives. And aside from the birth rays on his face and the scars earned through childhood adventures, his skin remains painfully unmarked.</p><p> </p><p>Though for all his dejection, Ash can’t say he regrets the way the night turned out. Not at all. And if Goh let him stay, that’s a good indication that he didn’t hate Ash, either.</p><p> </p><p>Admittedly, the morning after is a little awkward some-times. You know this person isn’t your soulmate, <em>you know </em>it was just a one-time thing, an overnight fling that’s over as soon as it starts. And <em>maybe </em>you wake up together and go for another round, if the mood strikes right, but most times it’s a platonic affair, a <em>hi, good morning, let’s get this over with.</em></p><p> </p><p>(Ash remembers getting breakfast with a girl one time, chatting over coffee and having a general good time. But he hadn’t felt anything towards her beyond <em>she’s-real-pretty-and-nice </em>attraction, no calling whatsoever. And when they said goodbye there were no expectations to meet again, no need to say anything else.)</p><p> </p><p>But with Goh…last night wasn’t like anything he’d ever experienced. It was, and Ash knows he shouldn’t think of it this way, but it was <em>special. </em>It <em>felt </em>special. Every kiss was charged, every caress breaking goosebumps on his skin. Gentle but passionate, and <em>good. </em>Good like Ash can’t remember feeling before.</p><p> </p><p>And the way Goh’s eyes bored into his own, deep azure glinting with pleasure and…and Ash doesn’t want to overstep, and think of it as anything more than what it probably meant for Goh but… gods, Ash just felt so <em>warm </em>under Goh’s gaze, so strangely cherished. As if Goh liked him. As if he <em>wanted </em>for Ash to stay for longer than one night.</p><p>But that is only Ash’s silly mind overthinking. It’s just the dull ache of his heart at realizing that’s it’s gone another day without meeting his soulmate, and the bit of irritation that remains from learning that his friend <em>did </em>find his, and now he’s lost yet another bet to the guy.</p><p> </p><p>And, <em>yeah, of course </em>Ash is happy for Gary. Deep down. <em>Very </em>deep down right now. But it’s sincere all the same. It’s just a bit tender right now. And not helping the cocktail of emotions Ash is surfing through so early in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>So Ash shakes his head off those — and any — thoughts, deciding that he’s been sitting on this bed for too long. It’s probably best if he gets up and finds Goh, so they can start with the next-morning ritual. He doesn’t think it will be necessarily awkward, after all, they’d been laughing and kissing most of the night before coming to Goh’s place.</p><p> </p><p>If anything, Ash can’t help but feel a bit down by the impending goodbye, he would have loved to spend some more time with — <em>no, no, </em>that’s again just his silly mind. It’s what needs to happen. Goh is cute and fun and they had a good time, but they both will move on from this, and be on their way to their rightful person. That’s it.</p><p> </p><p>Ash finds his briefs and his jeans, but he can’t see his shirt anywhere, and he doesn't remember where, exactly, it had come off last night. Maybe somewhere in the living room? He remembers a hallway… suddenly, and draining his head from the clumsy map he’s drawing, his nostrils fill with the sudden — <em>delicious — </em>smell of coffee and…<em>is that bacon?</em></p><p> </p><p>He practically floats in the direction of the smell, down the long hall that <em>does </em>exist, and into the open space of a living room and a kitchen, where the sizzling noises of a pan and the whirring of a coffeemaker are coming from.</p><p> </p><p>There’s also Goh, also shirtless, and wearing a pair of sweatpants, humming some song under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>And <em>don’t be endeared, </em>Ash says to himself, only to realize it’s already too late. He stood no chance to begin with, when Goh’s hair looks so soft, when he is singing so cutely. When all of him emanates this sense of <em>peace </em>that Ash isn’t entirely familiar with, but that he knows he’s been craving his entire life.</p><p> </p><p><em>Ah, fuck this, </em>Ash thinks, beginning to feel antsy in his skin. And <em>movement, </em>that’s what he needs, and he needs to be close to Goh, though the reason for that he can’t find as easily.</p><p>“That’s crazy dangerous, you know,” it’s the first thing he says, closing up to Goh, arms wrapping round his navel from behind, face burying into Goh’s shoulder-blade, breathing him in, relishing in the warmth of their bodies together.</p><p> </p><p>No, he shouldn’t be doing this. It’s clingy and suggestive and it’s the morning after already. But Ash decides it’s too confusing, and he doesn’t like being confused, so he’s just going to go ahead and <em>not </em>think about it. And if his instinct tells him to hug Goh and hold onto these last few moments of stolen bliss, he will listen and act accordingly. Until the last second is up.</p><p> </p><p>Seemingly indulgent, Goh hums in response. Ash can’t see his face, but he thinks he hears him smile. “It’s all right, I do it all the time.” He responds, shrugging slightly. “Do you like coffee? Sorry I didn’t ask…er — I didn’t want to wake you… But I can make some tea? If you’d prefer…”</p><p> </p><p>“Coffee’s great,” Ash replies, his words a little slurred where his face is still plastered to the dark-skinned shoulder-blade. He feels warm by Goh’s consideration, and he doesn’t miss the hint of nervousness in his tone.</p><p> </p><p>Just because he <em>can —</em>and since it’s the last time he gets to do it — Ash begins to pep little kisses on Goh’s back, soft and ginger, hoping that maybe Goh will look back into this morning and remember it fondly, too.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a stolen moment, but then again they all are.</p><p> </p><p>For his part, Goh takes in the affections with quiet appreciation, and not for the first time thinks of just <em>how lucky </em>Ash’s soulmate will be, if they’ll get to experience this on the daily.</p><p> </p><p><em>This, </em>and the way Ash kissed over Goh’s body the night before, confidently and giving. <em>This, </em>and those impossible brown eyes that sparked so brightly in the dead of the night Goh could swear he felt electricity coursing his body every time their eyes met. <em>This, </em>and the way their bodies fit so well with one another’s, even when they shouldn’t have. Even when all the feelings and sensations Goh has been battling <em>shouldn’t </em>be.</p><p> </p><p>Not for him, at least. Not with Ash.</p><p> </p><p>So Goh chooses to be selfish, because none of <em>this </em>will matter tomorrow, none of it will matter in a few hours, when Goh sees Ash off by the door and wishes him good luck. And since none of it matters, he once again doesn’t feel too bad for wanting to stretch the moment a little longer. Share breakfast, laugh together a little more. Then Ash can go back into the world, and eventually run into the arms of the person who is fortunate enough to experience him forever.</p><p> </p><p>Ash groans into his shoulder, cutely, just as Goh is flicking off the stove, trying to get on with serving their meal and pour the promised coffee. But… “Hey, let me move,” chuckles Goh, playfully swatting Ash’s arms, that are still looped around his waist.</p><p> </p><p>That’s a terrible suggestion, thinks Ash, now nosing behind Goh’s ear, nibbling at his earlobe, right below the black-dot piercing etched there. Goh sighs and doesn’t protest any further, which Ash takes as a green-light to continue, his mouth laving down until he runs into a love-bite he’d probably left the night before.</p><p> </p><p>Except — that doesn’t look like a hickey at all, does it?</p><p> </p><p>“Have you always had this?” Asks Ash, inspecting the mark more carefully, leaning back a little so his eyes can focus better.</p><p> </p><p>Goh frowns, not following. “What, my ear?” He tries to joke.</p><p> </p><p>But Ash either ignores him or doesn’t find it funny, and he must be serious about whatever it is he’s talking about, because he releases his hold at once, only to immediately turn Goh on the spot, until they are facing each other.</p><p> </p><p>The first thing Goh registers is Ash’s face pulled in concentration, and his brown eyes fixated on something by Goh’s neck. “Um, Ash,” he tries, tentatively, “what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Have you always had this?” </em>Repeats Ash, urgently, his hand now coming up and grazing at the mark he’s found. Then his eyes narrow suspiciously, and he meets Goh’s blue ones with something steel-like behind them, and not at all with the glint that Goh has been falling for in the last hours. “Do you already have a soulmate?” He asks, suddenly alarmed, looking around the entire flat, searching for an indication that someone else lives here.<em> Someone else </em>who already shares their lives with Goh.</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” Questions Goh, suddenly scandalized as well. “Of course not!” He defends, nearly offended. He would <em>never </em>do that to his — “wait…what are you talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>Ash’s frowns, maybe thinking he is being mocked, but something in Goh’s expression must tell him how sincerely confused Goh feels, because while he sighs and purses his lips, he makes no further accusations, and only nods to the spot his thumb is laid on. “There’s a mark on your neck, right here,” he says, pressing into it with the pad of his finger. “It looks like…you know…”</p><p> </p><p>Goh knows, he just doesn’t believe it’s possible. He shakes his head, still unwilling to accept what it may mean, and raises his own hand to indicate Ash to wait for a moment, as he scurries away from the kitchen and into his bathroom right down the hall, so he can look at himself in the mirror and figure out exactly <em>what on Earth </em>is Ash talking about.</p><p> </p><p>It’s kinda hard to see it, and he needs to twist his neck in a somewhat uncomfortable angle while his eyes do some extra effort to catch the shape. But it’s unmistakably there.</p><p> </p><p>Towards the back of his neck, no larger than a coin, it’s a perfectly carved mark in the shape of a spiral, lighter than his skin-tone, and practically hidden, if he were to put his shoulder-length hair behind his ear. No wonder he’s missed it…</p><p> </p><p>Fuck, <em>how long has he been missing it?! Shouldn’t he have noticed? Isn’t something grand supposed to happen when —</em></p><p> </p><p>“See,” says Ash, finding him in the bathroom. Through his reflection on the mirror, Goh sees his brown eyes once more fixated on the mark, and a slight pout that Goh tries high-and-hard not to link with disappointment. “You sure it wasn’t there before?”</p><p> </p><p>Goh shakes his head no. it <em>definitely </em>wasn’t there before. It couldn’t be. But then…does that mean…?</p><p> </p><p>He turns on his heel so that he’s facing Ash again. To his alarmed face with a hundred questions reflecting on the sienna eyes Goh really, <em>truly </em>doesn’t want to say goodbye to. And if only, if the universe were so kind —</p><p> </p><p>Goh pulls Ash into a kiss, offering no explanation and praying he won’t be rejected.</p><p> </p><p>Beautifully, Ash gives into the kiss just as desperately, hands coming up to Goh’s shoulders and holding tight. If this is it, if they have somehow gotten it wrong and Goh’s soulmate is actually somewhere else right now, and he needs to go out and find them, at the very least he wants to savor one last moment. One last press of their mouths together, something tender and quiet and stolen, <em>yes. </em>But something they get to call their own.</p><p> </p><p>Ash pulls away after a minute, breathing shakily and adverting Goh’s eyes, his voice quiet and — dare Goh say — fearful as he requests, “check, please.”</p><p> </p><p>And <em>yeah, yeah, </em>better to get it done with already. To be sure. They’re on borrowed time as it is, and Goh doesn’t think it would hurt any less if they tried to postpone it any further.</p><p> </p><p>Ash bares his neck, tilting his head to the side and giving Goh a clear view of his tan skin. There are several blemishes there already, a few teeth-marks on his pulse-point, remains of the night before. But those marks Goh had created himself, and they are not what he’s looking for.</p><p> </p><p>Rather, what he’s searching for is a tiny, coin-sized spiral that goes almost into Ash’s nape, contrasting the tan skin with its darker color, a darker-brown that is, conveniently enough — and as if it weren’t obvious already — the same one as Goh’s regular skin-tone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And gods. Heavens. They match.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Goh breaths out, overwhelmed, <em>relieved, </em>and confused beyond himself. Shouldn’t <em>they </em>have noticed? How could it escape them —</p><p> </p><p>“Goh?” Asks Ash, voice small, worried, when Goh keeps looking at the mark without confirming or denying anything.</p><p> </p><p><em>Right, </em>thinks Goh, his insides muddled up, <em>it’s a match! Ash! We’re soulmates! — </em>but his words aren’t coming out, there’s tears pulling at the corners of his eyes and his mind is racing, but he can’t seem to get a single world — let alone a sentence — out.</p><p> </p><p>So he does the next best thing, and buries his face into Ash’s neck, straight into the forsaken mark, as he pulls him into a crushing hug, breathing out and holding tight. There’s an important, overbearing revelation that tells him he <em>doesn’t have to let go.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Ash,” Goh says, but it’s as far as he gets, his voice breaking, tears dampening the skin on Ash’s neck. He feels the other man hug him back just as strongly.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Yes?” </em>Ash asks, overwhelmed as well. He <em>thinks </em>he is sure, he thinks <em>this is it, </em>this is why he was dreading the goodbye so much, why it had felt different. Why it’d been special with Goh. Because it <em>was. </em>Because he wasn’t meant to say goodbye.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” confirms Goh, finally. Nodding into Ash’s neck, kissing the mark, kissing a line back to Ash’s face.</p><p> </p><p>And though Ash would love to let him continue, he needs to see Goh right now, needs to catch his eyes and let this settle for good. So he leans back a bit, still holding onto Goh, never breaking their contact.</p><p> </p><p>Goh sniffs, a few tears coursing down his blushed cheeks, and Ash begins to understand what this immediate need to comfort him means, he understands why his hands reach to wipe them off, and why his eyes soften at the sight.</p><p> </p><p>It’s instinctual, as it had been the night before, when they gravitated towards each other in the club, as it’d been as they undressed one another and gave in to pleasure. As it’d been ten minutes ago, when he found him in the kitchen and decided he needed to make the most of every minute they had left.</p><p> </p><p>And now those minutes are endless. Which is unbelievable and fantastic and <em>overwhelming, </em>and Ash too can feel himself getting emotional enough that some joy might just escape his eyes. “I’m so glad,” he confesses, his voice still quiet in the small space between them.</p><p> </p><p>Goh nods, and his watery chuckle makes Ash smile. “Me, too,” he says, blue eyes finally casting up and meeting Ash’s, mirth and openness shining in them. “I didn’t want to say goodbye to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Ash <em>beams, </em>and says he didn’t want to, he says he felt it, too. <em>It was special — </em>Goh couldn’t agree more. They kiss again, joyous, and Goh lets his silly tears fall as they will, unbothered, smiling through it all.</p><p> </p><p>They hold onto each other and confess all of the things they’ve been thinking and worrying about. Laugh about how they’re both stupid, because they should’ve noticed something was up when they woke up and still felt so called to one another.</p><p> </p><p>About that… “How come I didn’t feel anything? When we first met?” Wonders Goh out loud, a little while later, when they’re finally sharing the breakfast he’s had to heat up <em>twice </em>in the last hour. It’s most strange, isn’t it? He’s heard soulmates feel an <em>itch, </em>or something akin to a burning sensation on the skin as the mark blooms on one’s body. “Did <em>you </em>feel anything?” He asks.</p><p> </p><p>Ash shrugs, mouth full of toast, crumbles by the corner of his mouth. And he’s definitely Goh’s soulmate, all right, because he wouldn’t find such clumsiness so endearing in anyone else, that’s for certain. “Nope. I don’t think so?” he replies, “it was very loud in that club. Maybe we just missed it?” He considers.</p><p> </p><p>Goh purses his lips, “I guess.” There was a lot of movement as well, so it’s likely they <em>did </em>feel something, but it was drowned by all the other stimuli going on.</p><p> </p><p>One thing he can’t deny, however, it’s the instant draw to Ash. What he originally credited to simple ‘<em>they are rather cute…’ </em>attraction, now revealed itself as the natural pull that brings soulmates together.</p><p> </p><p>Though, undeniably, Ash <em>is </em>really cute. And he smiles easily, just like Goh had guessed the night before. And <em>gods, </em>he thinks, <em>thank you, </em>because he can’t wait to go a lifetime making those smiles flourish on every chance he gets.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” Exclaims Ash suddenly, as he finishes his coffee in one large gulp. “Hey! This means I didn’t lose!”</p><p> </p><p>Well, <em>Goh </em>is lost. “What do you mean?” He asks, reaching out wipe the crumbs off Ash’s mouth, feeling as though he might go crazy if he doesn’t.</p><p> </p><p>“Gary!” Says Ash, genially. Then he realizes that doesn’t really help with cluing Goh in. “Eh…my best friend, back in my home-town — ” Ah, he needs to tell Goh all about Pallet! About his mom and her produce market and — <em>later. </em>There’s time. “He found his soulmate yesterday as well, and we’ve had this thing since we were little…it’s uh…its a bit stupid now but — well…”</p><p> </p><p>“Let me guess,” says Goh, raising an unimpressed-yet-amused-eyebrow. “You made a bet about who would find their soulmate first?”</p><p> </p><p>Ash doesn’t really need to reply, his reddening ears are enough of an answer. And Goh <em>would </em>tease him for it — if only he hadn’t made the same exact bet with his own best-friend.</p><p> </p><p>“But I <em>did </em>lose,” Goh admits, sighing dramatically, only because it makes Ash chuckle. “She found them years ago.” And Goh remembers feeling <em>so happy </em>for Chloe, but also kinda…</p><p> </p><p>“I felt the same way!” Spears Ash. It’s just the two of them in the quiet of Goh’s not-so-large Vermillion apartment. There’s no need to shout so loudly. Still, Goh only smiles in response, and nods for him to continue. “That’s why, uh…well… it doesn’t matter now…”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s why you went to the club?” Hints Goh, looking down to his unfinished toast with a pensive expression.</p><p> </p><p>Ash shrugs, embarrassed. “Yeah, sorta… it’s that bad?” He asks, mostly to himself. “I mean — ”</p><p> </p><p>“I was there too, Ash,” replies Goh, shrugging as well, but looking up so their eyes can meet. He needs to be honest about this. <em>They </em>need to be honest to each other. “I don’t care.” He says. “If it wasn’t the first time you’d been there. I know it wasn’t mine…”</p><p> </p><p><em>No, </em>Goh didn’t go to a club every-weekend to pick someone up and bring them back here. In fact, he’s very careful with the people he lets into his space, and he mostly likes to keep to himself, he’s busy enough as it is with work and his projects.</p><p> </p><p>But he won’t deny that he has stayed at other people’s houses in the past, and <em>no, </em>he’s never felt guilty about it. Nor does he feel guilty now. It’s common for people their age, or for anyone unmarked, really. There’s are no commitments, and no attachments to a soulmate that has yet to be assigned.</p><p> </p><p>Even if they have been fated for eternity, the universe’s timing to place the mark is always perfect.</p><p> </p><p>He reminds Ash as much, tells him he shouldn’t feel bad about it, either. Goh is certainly not judging him — that’d be hypocritical. Besides, there’s no harm done. Regardless of the circumstances, when they had found each other the calling had been too strong to ignore. And maybe the gods have an odd sense of humor, but they are not known for being cruel.</p><p> </p><p>“Technically you did lose the bet, though.” Goh comments some-time later, as he hands Ash his phone’s charging cable so he can — and Goh quotes — <em>let Gary know how much of a loser he is. “</em>I mean, you say he found them in the afternoon?”</p><p> </p><p>Ash nods, but doesn’t seem all that bothered by Goh’s statement. “Yup,” he confirms, “but it was still on the same day, so I still win.”</p><p> </p><p>It’s a stretch. And at its best it still would be more like a <em>tie. </em>But Goh gets an inkling that it won’t make any difference to argue with Ash, and promptly decides against doing so. Besides, it’s too entertaining to see his elated expression as he video-calls this Gary friend, childishly mocking them and saying that <em>ha! I found my soulmate last night! I totally win!</em></p><p> </p><p><em>His soulmate. </em>Ash’s voice is so crisp, so confident and happy as he utters the words, that Goh feels himself nearly swooning as, once more, the simple truth reveals itself to him. Not even twelve hours ago they were strangers, making out against the wall of a club downtown. Not even twelve hours ago, Goh thought this would be just a one-time thing, as he desperately tried to slow his reeling mind and <em>stop </em>his hopeful heart from thinking it was anything more than that. Because it couldn’t be.</p><p> </p><p>But it was. <em>It is, </em>he keeps telling himself, occasionally pinching his arm to make sure he’s not trapped in some long-dream. Twelve hours ago, he would’ve laughed in the face of anyone who suggested he’d meet his soulmate among the crowded masses of that club —<em> Oh, he can already picture Chloe’s reaction to all this. She’ll have the time of her life laughing at his expense—</em> it suddenly doesn’t sound like such a terrible place for a fated encounter.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a Saturday, and as the afternoon creeps in and they sprawl lazily on his couch, Goh learns that Ash doesn’t work on weekends, so today there’s no rush, no need to get back anywhere just yet. Though Ash will occasionally swing by work on weekends, to lend an extra hand. <em>I don’t think they care about the day of the week. They always want to play.</em></p><p> </p><p>Goh can tell he genuinely loves his job in the wildlife sanctuary, even as he complains of the long-nights and crazy things he had to do back in veterinary school. <em>I’ll bring you some-time! Eh…if you’d like? —I’d sure love for you to meet them! I have a feeling you’d like the hares, they’re super cool…</em></p><p> </p><p>Goh says that, of course, he’d like nothing more than to join Ash, any-time. And though his own job at his parents’ software company isn’t <em>as </em>exciting, he has been working on some — potentially groundbreaking — experiments in a lab just outside the city, and he’d be happy to show Ash the technologies they’ve been developing.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re gonna like Ritchie,” decides Ash, head resting on Goh’s chest, talking to the light cotton-shirt he’d eventually put on. “He’s super smart as well.”</p><p> </p><p>Goh hums, hands buried in Ash’s hopelessly disastrous raven tresses (which, frankly, he’s just making worse at this point). “And I think you’ll like Chloe, she loves animals as well.” And it’s currently studying to become a conservationist, so they’ll definitely find some common ground there.</p><p> </p><p>And <em>that’s funny, </em>thinks Goh; At first glance, it sounds as thought he has a lot more in common with this Ritchie friend than with Ash himself, and both Ash and Chloe having careers that involve nature and animals is eerily convenient as well. Yet, it’s not Ritchie who is his soulmate, nor is Ash cuddling Chloe right now — and oh, no, no. Goh swiftly pushes that mental picture <em>out </em>the door.</p><p> </p><p>But the thing is, Chloe <em>already has </em>a soulmate, and they do nothing related to the environment or technology or whatever. But they are soulmates nonetheless, and happy together all the same.</p><p> </p><p>No matter how different their lives are, how they have been up until this point, if their dreams are light-years from one another’s, none of that rings relevant once you find them. What feels right is <em>this. </em>Being in each other’s arms, in this precise moment that, fortunately, will continue repeating over and over.</p><p> </p><p>They are not on borrowed time, they are not stealing memories that will later render pointless. This is exactly where they belong. And even when this moment ends, there will be thousands more to create, millions of memories to live together.</p><p> </p><p>The <em>right </em>person is here, carefully cradled in Goh’s arms, all mesmerizing sienna eyes, funky ray-shaped cheek-marks, tan skin and perfect little coin-sized spiral on his neck, talking animately about <em>this koala we’ve been nursing for some months! She’s doing super well…!</em> — and through his gentle smiles and contagious energy, Goh already knows he’s got all the fun he could ever ask forahead, so as long as Ash remains by his side.</p><p> </p><p>And the absolute best part?</p><p> </p><p>They never have to say goodbye.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you so much for taking the time. Have an ⚡️electric⚡️ weekend (see what I did there 😏...  I'm hilarious... I know...), and pretty please be very safe if you have to go out! love ya x </p><p>H.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Valentine's is special to me (not because of the capitalistic notion of it, celebrate love every day !!) but it's my mother's bday as well and i hold the date dear to my heart, and /so/, because I believe that love is everlasting and I'm cheesy and a fan of gifts that keep on giving, on the 14th of every month, a new soulmate AU story will be posted to this fic !!! surprise !! all the way till December !! yay!</p><p>I adore you all so, so much! I wish you a healthy valentine's and a great time ahead. thank you for reading x</p></blockquote></div></div>
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